SA102 SiCore lithium-ion pouch cell

The SA102 is a SiCore silicon-anode lithium-ion pouch cell from Amprius Technologies, a high-energy cell for rechargeable battery assemblies in unmanned aircraft and other weight-sensitive electric platforms. Amprius places it in the High Energy cell type of its SiCore range, and publishes it with a gravimetric energy density of 450 Wh/kg and a volumetric energy density of 950 Wh/L at cell level.

For a battery designer the two energy figures answer different questions. The 450 Wh/kg value sets how much stored energy each kilogram of cells carries, which translates directly into flight time or payload for a given airframe mass. The 950 Wh/L value sets how much space that energy occupies, which matters when the battery bay is fixed. The cell capacity is 4.3 Ah, so several cells in parallel are needed to reach the capacity of a typical aircraft pack, and several in series to reach the bus voltage.

The maximum continuous discharge rate is 1C, equal to a continuous current of 4.3 A per cell at the rated capacity. This is an energy-optimised rating: it suits cruise-dominated profiles such as fixed-wing endurance flights and long-loiter multirotors, and less so power-hungry hover or take-off phases unless the pack is sized with enough parallel cells to keep the per-cell current low. In the SiCore family table, the Energy design that reaches 450 Wh/kg is listed with a 2C pulse rating and a maximum charge rate of C/2. The cycle life published for the SA102 is 150 cycles, a figure to weigh against the aircraft duty cycle when planning pack replacement.

The cell is a pouch format with a length of 56.5 mm and a width of 49.5 mm. A pouch cell has no rigid metal can, so the pack designer provides the mechanical support, any compression, the thermal path and the connection of the tabs, and pairs the cells with a battery management system that monitors voltage and temperature per series group. The listing carries a preliminary status on the maker's page, and Amprius supplies the technical specifications and a catalog on request for design-in work.

Amprius presents SiCore for unmanned aviation, where higher energy density supports longer flights, higher payloads or lower battery mass, and also for manned aviation, light electric vehicles, electric vehicles, and AI and robotics platforms. For drone integrators and OEMs the SA102 is a candidate where endurance per kilogram of battery is the driving requirement, as in long-range mapping, inspection and surveillance aircraft.